Thakre comes to Patil's defence; says govt should prevent incidents

Home minister RR Patil, who is under fire after the Azad Maidan protest, has received support from unexpected quarters.

Home minister RR Patil, who is under fire after the Azad Maidan protest, has received support from unexpected quarters.

State Congress president Manikrao Thakre on Monday said preventing such incidents was a collective responsibility of the government and it was wrong to single out Patil for the violence.

Thakre's support should augur well for Patil, who had been lambasted by party seniors for his alleged lenient approach towards law and order in the state.

After the low-intensity blasts in Pune and August 11 violence at Azad Maidan, a section in the Congress had upped its ante saying that chief minister Prithviraj Chavan should take over the home department.

Political pundits saw Thakre's statement as a veiled attack on the CM. "The entire government is responsible for preventing such incidents," Thakre said.

Thakre said he has written to Chavan not to target a particular community for wrongdoings of a few of its members. "I have asked the CM to bring the guilty to book, but spare people who are not responsible for the protest," he said. He accused the Opposition of politicising the issue in which policemen were attacked. "It's wrong to seek Patil and police chief Arup Patnaik's resignation. They should discuss the issue with the government first."